The Girl Who Cried Gnome
|season=2 |number=23A |image=Title-TheGirlWhoCriedGnome.png |caption= |airdate=December 21, 2003 October 12, 2004 July 15, 2006 |production= |writer=Rob Hummel |director=Steve Ressel |guests= |prev=Zim Eats Waffles |next=Dibship Rising }}" " is the first segment of the 23rd episode of Invader Zim. Synopsis Moofy cheerfully skips from block to block, selling Girly Rangers cookies to residents. She arrives at a house's doorstep and asks a man if he would like to buy some cookies. To the man's shock, Moofy begins to convulse violently and beats the man into buying a box after he declines. While smiling at her success, Moofy turns her head to the next house: Zim's. Inside his home, Zim is experimenting when his computer warns him that Moofy is at his doorstep. Overreacting, Zim releases a robot gopher into the yard. The gopher tunnels under Moofy, causing her to fall into a hole in the process. Surprisingly, instead of eliminating the girl as Zim intended, the robot gopher malfunctions, dances for her and then shoots itself up into the sky. A blonde woman sees Moofy and calls the media, which almost immediately arrives. While Zim panics over the unwanted attention to his base, GIR excitedly hugs his master. As Zim watches the live broadcast, he realizes that the humans do not suspect anything, but concludes that Moofy must be taken away to remove the risk of the humans becoming distrustful. Trying to make his house seem less conspicuous, he makes "earth rocks" appear around his house. Around the same time, the rescue team arrives, only to be warded off by Moofy. Zim tries again to lower any suspicion by sending the Roboparents out and disguising himself and GIR. However, this only makes Moofy fling dirt at the rescuers, who in return call President Man to help handle the situation. Dib walks around as he notices the large crowd of people gathered around Zim's house. He pushes himself through, seeing Moofy in a news broadcast. Dib asks why they don't simply pull her out. An old man tells Dib that anyone who tries to rescues Moofy is met by a shrill scream from the girl. Seeing that Moofy is simply resisting a rescue due to the attention she is getting, Dib realizes that he had time to use the mass media to foil Zim once and for all. As he tries to get closer to Zim's base, Dib bumps into the leader of Girly Rangers. Though he apologizes, the leader, now accompanied by three other Girly Rangers, orders him to buy cookies in order to pass. Dib complies, but pays with ham instead of money, leading the four rangers to attack him. After more failed attempts to pull Moofy out of the hole, she lets out an unbearably loud scream that manages to cause many Irken ships outside the Milky Way to explode. At the same time, President Man arrives, and announces that they will get Moofy out safely. Zim, wearing a disguise, tells the media that he has a plan to free the trapped Girly Ranger. Because she will not let anyone come close enough to touch her, he proposes to shake the entire Earth, using his technology, to jar Moofy out of the ground. After explaining this to President man, Zim returns inside, and begins packing his ship with GIR, planning to finally leave Earth before its destruction. Seeing through the plan, Dib tries to convince President Man to simply tunnel under Moofy to set her free, and "maybe see if there is an alien base there they're while they're at it." President man dismisses this idea despite Dib's insistence, and orders for Dib to be taken away. However, before Dib is dragged away by the guards, President Man notices the Chocolate Ninja Star cookies lodged into Dib's head from his previous ordeal with some Girly Rangers. Upon hearing of the President's love for the baked treats, Dib offers that they trade. Back inside the lower area of Zim's base, Zim packs his things along with GIR as he proclaims that he is finally done with Earth, but sees President Man with Dib on screen. The President says that they have a new plan for freeing Moofy proposed by Dib by using a gigantic digging machine. Angered, Zim states that there is only one thing left to do. GIR asks him if he is going to make biscuits, and is shocked when Zim tells the robot that he would never. Zim goes back outside and orders Moofy to leave. In response, Moofy begins to growl and push Zim away. The costumed Irken jumps behind Moofy and manages to forcefully pull her out in a fit of anger, causing every spectator to stop and cheer, excluding Dib, who still tries to convince the media, but is ignored. As the people leave, Dib gets stuck in the same spot as Moofy was, and much to his dismay, no one comes to his aid. A now happy Zim comes out with another robot gopher, letting it dance in front of Dib along with four Lawn Gnomes. Home video releases ;DVD * Invader Zim - Volume 3: Horrible Holiday Cheer * Invader Zim: Season 2 External links *